Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Die leuchtenden Toten by Caitlin Starling

8 reviews

hzamrzla's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved the premise and voice of this book, but the pacing and actual plot were so hard to stick with. There is only one REAL conflict: whether or not Gyre trusts Em, and we revisit it about 8 times with no real resolution. Reluctant trust, big betrayal, insistence on doing it alone, horrible failure due to the decision to do it alone, rinse, repeat. 

Specifically, I got so frustrated with Gyre by the end because of her

constantly refusing to let Em guide/medicate/STOP her, doing something stupid, and then being in a rage that Em didn’t guide/medicate/STOP her

. This happening once or twice seemed reasonable, and then for it to KEEP happening, as the only source of action in the book, felt contrived. 

Also, I hate

“turns out it was all in your head”

books. 

It got old, which is sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

eldritch_archivist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Gave me real life anxiety reading this, absolutely shitting myself during the back half. I'm now much more afraid to read more books by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gaslighting, Suicide, Classism, and Cursing

draconicdetective's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Confinement

Moderate: Classism, Stalking, and Abandonment

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Gaslighting, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Murder, Abandonment, Vomit, and Classism

Minor: Suicide and Excrement

Nonconsensual drugging, loss of bodily autonomy. Overdose. Hallucinations, paranoia, surveillance, unreality. Descriptions of bodies in various states of decay. Limb loss.

sargasso_c's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The writing was very good, but as a whole the book rambled. It would start threads, abandon them for chapters and chapters, and then hurriedly try to tie them up when the main character was nearing the natural end of their journey. Contradictingly, some major plot points were not foreshadowed properly.

Even so - the writing style was quite enjoyable and this isn't at all bad for a debut novel.

The wlw representation was extremely satisfying to read, and I'm delighted that none of the conflicts centered around the queerness of the main characters.

I'm interested in reading more work from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Body horror, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Vomit

Minor: Gaslighting

rtaire's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Really interesting characters. Loved the risk the author took in writing a book that was literally two people and the setting. Forced the characters and their flaws and their growth to be in the unrelenting spotlight. There is almost no plot to fall back on, the characters had to carry the story, and I think they did phenomenally. Also, this book is just further proof that I will never ever go underwater caving. Fuck that shit. Perfect for a horror story as a result.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Gaslighting, Body horror, Classism, and Drug use

ripxw's review against another edition

42% in, it’s pretty boring because all I know is one character is terrified and stuck and the other is a rich bitch psychopath that’s lead 20-30 people to their death it’s not it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Classism